"This place is made of rock." So naturally, there's a whole whack of blues rockers, prog rockers, art rockers, heavy rockers, and badass chick rockers among this year's nominees, including The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Rush, Procol Harum, Deep Purple, and Heart, as well as Joan Jett and the Blackhearts.

But the Hall's also repping hardcore and gangsta rap with the nomination of Public Enemy and N.W.A., two essential crews that broke with '80s hip-hop orthodoxy, bringing political outrage and gangbanging to the radio while breeding legends of the game like Chuck D, Flava Flav, Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, and the long-deceased Eazy-E.

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